Centrifugal extractor



Sept. 15, 1936. I sc w z v 2,054,342

GENTRIFUGAL EXTRACTOR Filed May 25, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY.

Sept. 15, 1936; i

' CENTRIFUGAL EXTRACTOR Filed May 25, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet s W wil /W INVENTOR. 5Z7; 5

H. G. scHwAlz 2,054,342

0% i t I W ATTORNEY.

Patented Sept. 15, 1936 UNITED STATES CENTRIFUGAL EXTRAGTOB Henry G. Schwarz. Denver, 0010.

Application May 25,

11 Claims.

This-invention relates to a centrifugal juice extractor. and while more particularly designed for extracting fruit juice, it is, of course, not limited to this particular use, but will be found valuable wherever it is desired to break up, shred, and extract the juice from any liquid laden solid material.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an extractor which will be continuous and automatic in its operation; which will have an exceedingly large capacity with a minimum of size and minimum power consumption; which can be minutely and easily adjusted to obtain a .maximum extraction from any given product; and which will be economical to manufacture and service.

Another object is to provide a machine of this type which progressively tears open and breaks down the structure and cells of the solid materlal and expels the liquids such as moisture, juices, oils, fats, etc., as the material progresses on its way from the inlet to the discharge.

Still another object of the-invention is to so construct the device that a classification or separation of the extracted juices may be had if desired.

A further object is to eliminate all frictional contacts, reciprocating motions, etc., and to provide a machine having only one moving unit so.

that a long life and freedom from repairs is assured.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efllciency. These will become more, apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention reference is had to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawings and throughout the description.

In the drawings:-

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through the improved extractor.

. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary detail section through the screen 11118.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal 3-3, Fig. 1. g. similar section, taken on the line section, taken on the 4 is a Fig. 1. 5 is a Fig. 1. 6 is a perspective view of the complete machine and its drive mechanism.

The principle embodied in this machine could be carried out with various mechanical constructions. The drawings illustrate one embodiment which has proven very satisfactory.

The machine illustrated comprises a base casting ll upon which rests a cylindrical housing ll.

similar section taken on the line 1935. Serial No. 23,411

An extracting cylinder 12 is supported on the housing 10 which in turn supports a head casting 13. A vertical shaft 14 extends between a bearing 15 in the head casting l3 and a second bearing iii in the base 10. The weight of the shaft is supported on a thrust bearing l1 which can be vertically adjusted by means of a pressure screw l8.

The base 10 is formed with a peripheral juice channel is from which one or more juice discharge pipes 20 lead. The mid portion of the base. is open for the discharge of pulp therethrough. The pulp discharge and the juice channel is divided by an inwardly inclined inner wall 43. The housing II is formed with an inclined or conical inner wall 21 leading downwardly and outwardly to the juice channel IS. The head casting i3 is provided with a feed chute or hopper 22 through which the material is fed to the machine.

The shaft l4 carries one or more star wheels or series of radial, inclined, shredding blades 23. In the drawings, two star wheels are illustratecl. one posiitoried above the other. A. cylindrical shredding ring 24 provided with shredding teeth 25 is set into the cylinder 11 around the upper star wheel. The teeth 25 may have any form suitable to the product being shredded. They may comprise vertical gear-like teeth or relatively sharp shredding points as desired.

A cylindrical extracting screen 26 surrounds the second star wheel. This screenis carried in a removable screen ring 21 set into the cylinder I2. The screen ring 21 is illustrated indetail in Fig. 2, and is formed with a series of/verticai ribs 28 on its inner surface which-support the screen and form vertical juice channels behind the screen which open through discharge openings 29 at the bottom. Below the openings 29 in the ring 21 terminates a conical series of teeth A spreader cap 3| surrounds the shaft H below the star wheels 23 and covers a bladed shredding cone 32 which is keyed to the shaft 14.

The top of the cap,3l is formed with a series of inclined blades 3,9 of various heighths. cone 32 is formed with outwardly extending blades 33, about which a conical extracting screen 34 is secured. A conical bell 35 surrounds the screen 34. The bell is secured to the ribs 33 of the cone 32 in any desired manner so as to rotate therewith and' is provided with a series of inwardly extending ribs 36 which divide the space between I the screen and the inner wall of the bell into a series of vertical fluid channels which discharge at the bottom through passages 31.

The shaft 14 is driven at relatively high speed in any suitable manner. As illustrated, the shaft terminates in a co'upling 40 which can be connected to a motor shaft or any other suitable driving device, A supporting bracket 44 is provided for supporting the driving motor, variable speed mechanism, or other drive mechanism. This bracket is mounted on an annular flange 45 extending about the casting H. The flange is provided with a. series of holes '46, as illustrated. so that the supporting bracket 44 may be positioned at any desired point to accommodate any given installation.

The material to be extracted is fed into the hopper 22, onto the star wheels 23. The blades 23 chop and reduce the material to small pieces. These pieces are thrown by. centrifugal force against the teeth 25 of the shredding ring 24 where they are ground and chopped by the blades.- This shredded and chopped material then moves downward and is thrown, pressed and rubbed against the cylindrical screen 26, where the first juice extraction is made. The fluid exudes through the screen 26, into the fluid chambers in the screen ring 21 and flows through the openings 29. P

The material is gradually 'worked by gravity and by the incline of the rotating blades downwardly along thescreen 26, to the top of the cap 3|. The blades 39 on the cap press the material outwardly and downwardly against the second series of shredding teeth 30 where a still flner shredding or grinding operation is accomplished before the material is picked up by .the blades 33 between the done 32 and the conical screen 34.

The centrifugal force at this point presses the final shredded material against the screen 35 and extracts the remaining fluid therefrom. The fluid flows into the passages on the inner surface of the bell 35 and from thence through the passages 31 to the channel I 9. The fluid flowing from the openings 29 of the upper screen falls onto the rotating bell 35 and is thrown against the inner conical wall 2| from where it flows to the collecting channel I9.

The solid material of pulp works downwardly along the screen due to the incline thereof and the centrifugal action and is thrown through the hollow center of the base casting H]. The lower rim of the bell 35 is grooved so as to provide two annular points 42, the upper one of which throws the fluid outwardly and the lower one of which throws the pulp outwardly on each side of the partition 43 which separates the juice channel l9 from the hollow interior of the base casting I0.

By adjustment of the pressure screw l8, the space between the ends of the ribs 39 and the secondary teeth 30 can be regulated so as to produce any desired degree of fineness in the final shredding.

A separating plate 4| is illustrated between the lower star wheel 23 and the cap 3!. This plate acts as a retarder to prevent a too rapid movement of the material through the machine. On some materials, this plate would be needed and on others an additional plate could be placed between two star wheels to still further retard the material.

If an additional extracting action and shredding is desired, a second cylinder l2 could be positioned above the first so as to give still additional shredding and squeezing action to the material. I

It is desired to call attention to the fact that the material is first subjected to a grinding and squeezing against a stationary screen and thence to a pure centrifugal extraction against a rotating screen.

In some installations, the lower rotating asopenings 29 may be collected separately from the fluid extracted by the lower screen 35.

The upper extremities of the ribs or blades 33 are curved sharply forward to pick up the material discharging from the teeth 33 and force it downwardly into the conical screen 35.

For some materials, the shredding portion of 15 the machine 24 and 30 would. not be required, and could be eliminated. The latter'would be true for materials not requiring shredding or masceration, such as fine granular material requiring'dewater ing, for instance sugar, ores, etc., or for sewerage. In Fig. 6, the device is illustrated as it would appear in a typical installation. In this view, the supporting bracket 44 carries a variable speed mechanism enclosed in a suitable housing. The delivery shaft of the variable speed mechanism, illustrated at 49, is connected directly to the coil:- pling 40 of the machine. The power is furnished to the variable speed mechanism from a motor 50. A standard Si is provided to assist in supporting the driving mechanism. This standard f rests upon the flange 45.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is desired to be understood that the same may be varied, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention,

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a. juice extractor having a vertical rotating shaft and blade members secured on and rotating with said shaft, means for coacting with said blade members to extract juice comprising: a screen housing surrounding said blade members; a screen band positioned within said screen housing; and a cylindrical screen supported on the inner face of said screen band about said blade members, there being a series of. vertical passages in the inner face of said screen band for the passage of fluid.

2. In a juice extractor having a. vertical ro-' tating-shaft and blade members secured on and rotating with said shaft, means for coacting with said blade members to extract juice comprising: a screen housing surrounding said blade members; a screen band positioned within said screen housing; a cylindrical screen supported on the inner face of said screen band about said blade members, there being passages in said screen band. for the passage of fluid behind said screen and an annular series of stationary shredding teeth positionedabove said screenior shredding material before it reaches said screen.

3. In a juice extractor having a vertical rotating shaft and blade members secured on and rotating with said shaft, means for coacting with said blade members to extract juice comprising:

-a screen housing surrounding said blade memlindrical screen so as to receive material from 15 the interior thereof; means for forcing said materlal against said shredding members; and a second screen positioned below said shredding members.

4: In a juice extractor having a vertical rotating shaft and blade members secured on and rotating with said shaft, means for coacting with said blade members to extract juice comprising: a screen housing surrounding said blade members; a screen band having a grooved inner face positionedwithin said screen housing; a cylindrical screen supported against the grooved inner face of said screen band about said blade members; an annular series of shredding members supported below said cylindrical screen for receiving material from its interior; means for forcing said material against said shredding members; a conical screen arranged to rotate with said shaft and receive on its interior the material from said shredding members; and means for collecting the juice passing through both screens.

5. A juice extractor comprising: a base member; an annular juice channel about said base member; a cylindrical housing above said base member; a conical inner wall in said housing; a vertical shaft mounted in said base member; a cone member secured to and arranged to rotate with said shaft within said inner wall; a conical screen spaced from and supported by said cone member; means for introducing material between said cone and said screen; a cap on said cone member; blades formed on said cap; and an annular series of teeth positioned above and between said screen and said cone so as to coact with said blades to shred material before it enters between said screen and said cone. 6. A juice extractor comprising: a base member; an annular juice channel about said base member; a cylindrical housing above said base member; a conical inner wall in said housing; a vertical shaft mounted in said base member; a cone member secured to and arranged to rotate with said shaft within said inner wall; a conical screen spaced from and supported by said cone member; means for introducing material between said cone and said screen; a cap on said cone member; blades formed on said cap; and an annular series of teeth positioned above and between said screen and said cone so as to coact with said blades to shred material before it enters between said screen and said cone; and a second screen supported above said teeth; and means for maintaining said second screen stationary about said shaft so that said blades will force fluid therethrough.

7. In an extractor: a screen member comprising: a stationary annular band; a series of vertical ribs on the inner face of said band; a stationary internal cylindrical screen resting against said ribs,there being juice passages extending from between each pair of. ribs and through said band for the discharge of juice therefrom; an annular conical series of inwardly projecting teeth formed around the inner lower edge of said band and means for forcing the material falling from the inner face of said screen against said teeth.

8. In a juice extractor, a vertical shaft; a conical member secured to said shaft; blades extending outwardly from said conical member to form a conical supporting surface; a. conical screen supported on the surface of said blades; a conical bell surrounding said screen in spaced ber; a cylindrical housing supported on said base member; 'a conical inner wall in said cylindrical an extraction cylinder supported above wall; a feed member supported housing; said conical inner by said extraction cylinder; a vertical shaft supported in said base member and extending concentrically through said housing, said extraction cylinder and said feed member; a conical screen secured to and arranged to rotate with said shaft within said conical inner wall; a removable screen ring secured within said extraction cylinder and extending downwardly within said conical inner wall; a stationary cylindrical screen carried in said screen ring, there being passages in the latter for the flow of juice; and means on said shaft for forcing material through said screen ring. l

10. A juice extractor comprising: a base membar; a cylindrical housing supported on said base member; a conical inner wall in said cylindrical housing; an extraction cylinder supported above said conical inner wall; a feed member supported by said extraction cylinder; a vertical shaft supported in said base member and extending concentrically through said housing, said extraction cylinder, and said feed member; a conical screen secured to and arranged to rotate with said shaft within said conical inner wall; a removable screen ring secured within said extraction cylinder and extending downwardly within said conical inner wall; a stationary cylindrical screen carried in said screen ring, there being passages in the latter for the flow of juice; means on said shaft for forcing material through said screen ring; a

shredding; ring supported by said screen ring within said extraction cylinder; and star wheels mounted on said shaft for forcing said material against said shredding ring.

11.'A juice extractor comprising: a base member; a cylindrical housing supported on said base member; a conical inner wall in said cylindrical housing; an extraction cylinder supported above said conical inner wall; a feed member supported by said extraction cylinder; 9, vertical shaft supported in said base member and extending concentrically through said housing, said extraction cylinder, and said feed member; a conical screen secured to and arranged to rotate with said shaft within said conical inner wall; a removable screen ring secured within said extraction cylinder and extending downwardly within said conical inner wall; a stationary cylindrical screen carried in said screen ring, there being passages in the latter for the flow of juice; and means on said shaft for forcing material through said screen ring; a conical bell secured to and rotating with and about said conical screen. said screen ring extending downwardly within said bellto direct material into the interior of said conical screen.

."HENRY G. scnwan'z. 

